Hey Arnold 2: The Journey to San Lorenzo
by valcanous
Summary: My fan version of the Jungle Movie, the cancelled would-be finale to Hey Arnold!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

In the quiet part of Europe sits a little old town, one that has changed little in 150 years. In fact if you were in this town, you might've seen high in the sky, a plane. It is a descent, old style one, one you might have seen in World War 1. But this plane has no guns, bombs, or war-photographer aboard. In fact, war is the last in the young pilot's mind.  
Indeed, why would the sweet, young fifth grader Arnold be flying a war-plane? He was flying, not by villainy or by crookery, but because he loved the air. On this particular day, he sure could use some.  
Arnold looked out over the cockpit and smiled. The breeze felt great. The sun was shining. The gulls flew overhead, blissfully ignorant of the young flying kid who had joined them.  
Arnold flew in lower, this time gliding under a cobblestone bridge by the countryside. A stage jockey barked at this inconvenient flying route, but Arnold was already far out of sight before he started his squawks.  
Arnold was now high in the clouds, his favorite part of the sky. Only… Hey! Where was the town? And the birds? And what was… a forest? Monkeys? How'd he get to the jungle?  
Arnold pondered for a moment, before realizing the truth. He looked to side. In the plane which was now flying beside him, sat his parents behind the controls.  
"Mom?! Dad?!" he gasped. Before they could respond, down they flew. Arnold scratched his head but soon knew why. More planes! Six, no seven of them! Black! Angry! And shooting…

"Noooo…!" Arnold awoke with a scream. It was over. It was just a nightmare. He looked around and was saddened to see he was yet again, all alone.  
"HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD! HEY ARNOLD! HEY-" went his potato alarm clock. Arnold jumped up in surprise. He certainly was not in the mood. All of a sudden, much to his surprise, Arnold swung his arm around, so hard he broke it. There was a large crash, as the shelf the now dead time-piece once sat, fell, dumping her load of books onto the floor. Arnold looked down at his hands.  
He could barely realize this new-found strength, but he was even more surprised by Grandma, who upon hearing the crash had readied herself for an attack in full bathrobe and frying pan defense.  
"Where is he!" she demanded. "I'll beat him to bits!"  
"Calm down gramma, it was me!" he pleaded. At that moment, Grandpa Phil entered the room. He too, was dressed in a bathrobe, but his tone was much calmer considering he was still half asleep.  
"Pookie," he said, yawning. "Must you fly off the rail at this hour?"  
"I'm saving Chimba from the wild beast himself!" she howled. At that moment, a fly promptly landed on the end of her weapon. "There he is!" she scowled. "No mercy!"  
And with this last shout, Pookie began swinging violently and chased the insect out of the room and down the hall. "I'll have your head you fiendish tiger! Heave-to!" she yelled.  
The room was now much quieter. It was at this point that Grandpa took the opportunity to look around the room. His eyes fell upon the broken alarm clock, and the fallen books, and cracked shelf surrounding it.  
"Well," he said, looking down. "I suppose you had that same dream again?"  
Arnold nodded sadly. It had been weeks since he had uncovered his father's journal, which had helped him learn the truth about his parents. On the last page was a map, which he assumed must have been the route his parents took before they disappeared. He was excited, and planned to find them as soon as possible. He had taken the liberty to try and research the region known as San Lorenzo, where the map and the journal both mentioned by name by buying several pamphlets and textbooks and such from there, all of which arrived in small brown packages, but alas he had gotten no nearer than when he started.  
It was now his first day of firth grade. He cringed, walking toward the bathroom. At last, taking a breath, he said, "I have to go to school, Grandpa."


	2. Chapter 1 - Downed faces

**Chapter One**  
_Contests, Pamphlets, and School Buses_

Gerald sat at the bus stop. He turned as Arnold arrived and the bus pulled up. He was dressed in his usual attire, save for his backpack, which had been replaced with his shoulder bag, the one he kept his "packages" in. To an unknowing individual, he might have appeared to be the mailman.  
"Hey man," he said. "You gonna be alright?"  
"Yeah," Arnold replied. "eventually."  
The two boarded the bus, paid their fee, and sat at the back end of the row. Arnold sighed. Yet again, he was a part of the daily grind back to PS118. He was no closer to mom and dad, and who knows, he may never be.  
After picking up the last of the students, the bus whizzed off to school. Another day. Another assignment. Another new teacher. Another night. All the while knowing where to find his parents but never being able to do so. And so, Arnold sat with his sorrowful look, the one he always had now, a sighed. It was going to be a long day.

. . .

The bell rang and Arnold and his classmates shuffled to their seats. Their new teacher, Mr. Pakenham, stood at the front of the room and helped by writing his name on the board. Once everyone was seated, he cleared his throat and began. "Hello class," he said. "I am Mr. Pakenham, but you can call me Mr. P. I'm very excited to be working with you. You know I started teaching in 1997. Back Then you wouldn't believe my hair…"  
The sound of Mr. Pakenham's voice faded away as Arnold's mind began to drift off. He could see it all, the first day the mailman had arrived with his package.  
"Arnold M. Shortman?" the mailman asked, checking his clipboard.  
"Yes," Arnold answered, excitedly.  
"Sign here please," was only his response.  
As he signed it, he was handed a small package, this one full of pamphlets and letters he had ordered over the internet about San Lorenzo.  
He passed his grandparents, Phil and Pookie who were eating lunch in the kitchen, as he went up to his room.  
Phil frowned. "Pookie," he said. "I'm worried about Arnold. I don't want him to be disappointed." He stood, but Pookie stopped him. "He's got hope, Phil," she said. "It's not much but it's all he has left of 'em. Why take that away?"  
Phil stood for a moment, and then continued to eat his roast beef sandwich. Little did any of them know what lay ahead. The weeks, the months went on. He spent them, weeks on end, with only a few short naps in between. At last, summer was over and Arnold was still quite batted.  
Next the dreams started happening. He'd wake up, almost nightly, to the same dream of flying a plane, and sitting there helpless as his parents were gunned down. It was horrible, and yet, slightly memorable at the same time.  
Before long, summer had died down. He was still alone, no one to help him, no parents to greet him, again. I looked to be like this forever.

"Arnold? Arnold?!"  
Arnold quickly fell out of his trance. He gulped. "Yes Mr. Pakenham?" Arnold said, gingerly. "Glad you were paying attention," Mr. Pakenham replied. "As a penalty, I want you to convert the fallowing into an uneven fraction: 3 halves plus 8 thirds."  
"25 over 6," Arnold said.  
"Oh really?" Mr. Pakenham said, looking more than a little confused. He ran to his desk and checked the math book.  
"Oh," he said. "Nice job Arnold."  
Arnold gave a half smile. But this smile could do nothing to reveal what was truthfully in his heart. He wanted something no math problem could ever give him. And so he sighed, another sorrowful breath. It wouldn't be the last.

The bell rang, and the halls were filled with new sounds of clambering, loud kids. Arnold started walking alongside Gerald. There was nothing very out of the ordinary about this. In fact, most wouldn't care to take the time to notice this.  
But Helga was not like most others. Stealing a moment behind a blind corner, she found a chance to be alone with Arnold, even if all it was was her locket.  
"Hmm, Arnold. What a dweeb," she said to herself. "What a fool. What a looser. What a dumb football-headed blond. How I hate him. And yet-"  
She lifted her locket into the air. "I love him. Those golden locks, that awkwardly shaped head. The way he never stops caring for others, even his bully," she swooned. "Oh-ho-ho, if only you knew my true feelings for you. If only I could help you on your greatest of quests. After all, we learned about it together…" She remembered the night. While the others had gone to Dinoland, she had stayed behind, pretending to be sick. Unfortunately, she couldn't have picked a worse place to listen: outside the Sunset Arms' bathroom, to which Phil had retreated an uncommonly frequent amount of times. By the end of the day, she was faking nothing.  
She paced. "If only I could bring them back to you, your family. But I can't. I never can. Oh-ho-ho, but Arnold," she swooned again, pausing for effect. Suddenly, she heard a familiar sound. The sound of breathing. It hacked and wheezed, seemingly from all directions.  
But Helga said nothing, merely gave a good sock to Brainy's head behind her. He fell to the ground, woozy again.

As Helga walked home, her mind kept going back to the events that summer. She had confided in Arnold that she loved him, stealing a kiss. But she later knew that now was not the time to tell him, so when he asked her about it, she said she was out of it. After calling him a football-head again, he didn't mention it again.  
And so, Arnold had spent the summer alone, up in his room, searching for news, news about his parents, and San Lorenzo, and La Sombra, from the University of Hillwood's blog. Two professors had attempted a search for his parents when Arnold was one year old.  
Helga had learned this from observing Arnold's discarded research materials. No debt, Arnold had tried to talk to them, failing in the end. Helga would've done so herself, but one has to schedule an appointment, and if she did, Arnold would know it was her who did it. She wasn't ready to do that.  
Since then, Helga had tried to lay low although this didn't mean she didn't steal a glance at Arnold once in a while, or take the time to call him the occasional insulting name.  
As she walked, she found her view obstructed by the piece of paper which hit her in the face. It had been flying in the wind, along with several forms of litter.  
"Hey!" she shrieked. "Get offa me! She struggled with the paper until she was free. It was only then though that she managed to read it. Although it was a bit sales-pitchy, one part in particular did catch her eye. "Are you in grade school, between the grades of 3rd to 6th grade? Then here's your big chance, you could win!"  
As she continued reading she found it was a flyer for the Hillwood early college writing contest. Apparently, if you sent in a poem or original writing piece and won, you could take your whole class anywhere you wanted for one week on a field trip, as long as it was educational. All you had to do to enter was to get the contest approved at your school by the principle. At this, her eyes widened. "Well Wartcy," she said aloud, a smile spreading across her face. "Looks like you and me gotta have a chat."

It was the late hours at Hillwood University, and all of the students had gone to bed, save for a few interns who were working for a college credit. The teachers had all gone to bed too, except for those assisting the interns. Among these were two professors, Pr. Crown and Pr. Cruet. In the past, the two had been on many journeys, including one in which they searched for a married couple who had disappeared into a region which was said to be home to the legendary Green Eyed people. Both Crown and Cruet had questions to ask them, but alas, they lost a party of three to the savage river-pirate La Sombra, and in the same incident, his goons had taken most of their supplies. The two scholars barely managed to make a hasty retreat back home. They hadn't received enough funds to try again since.  
They were still working on an experiment which involved two lizards, one banana, and one very hungry snake. To the uninformed onlooker, this might seem overly inhumane, but after watching, they would be proven otherwise.  
At that moment, an intern burst through the door. "Mr. Crown! Dr. Cruet!" he shouted. "I have news from San Lorenzo, there's been another sighting of La Sombra!"  
The two men turned, both had a look in their eyes of extreme annoyance. The intern put his hands behind his back, nervously and gave a lying smile. Neither of the professors said anything, and the intern took the hint to come by later.  
Pr. Crown tilted his head. You could tell he was distraught. He sighed, closing the box which housed the first lizard.  
"Mr. Cruet," he said in a very disheartened tone. He took another breath and asked "how long has it been?"  
"Um, 9 years comrade," Pr. Cruet replied, a similar tone in his own voice.  
"9 years," Crown repeated. "9 years. You know their little boy would be in the 5th grade by now?"  
He paused, trying to hold back some rage, and failing. "They took his life!" he roared, knocking over a desk in his rage. "That boy is either dead, or very, very, alone. La Sombra took that boy's everything!"  
It was at this point that Crown realized what he had done. He stopped, and looked suddenly around at the mess he made, and shook his head. There was a long pause. Finally, he spoke again. "Doesn't he deserve it back?"  
"Look, it was not your fault. Don't blame yourself for what happened," Cruet said, putting his hand on his comrade's shoulder.  
Crown cupped his head in his hands. "I just… wish I could've done something." He quietly started to sob but tried not to let his collogue hear him, failing miserably.  
"It's okay," Cruet said, patting him on the back. "It's okay comrade."  
Crown paused again, rising to his feet, for he had been in a hunched-over state before. He breathed in, whipping his face.  
"Next flight to San Lorenzo leaves in a week. I'll be on it."  
"But comrade, where will you get the money?!"  
"I'll use my own, those bloody deans will never fund such a big venture."  
Crown looked at his map along the wall. "At least a week of unused vacation time," he said. "Looks like I'll have to work over the holidays this year."  
"Looks like WE will together comrade," Cruet said.  
Crown turned to him, and slowly the two smiled and then hugged, laughing joyfully. Cruet went behind his desk, and opened a little mini fridge. In a secretive way, he pulled out a bottle and poured the contents into two wine glasses, handing one to Crown and keeping the other for himself.  
"To San Lorenzo we go," he said, raising his glass.  
"Or to heck if we bust," finished Crown, clanging his glass against Cruet's. The two stared at the map. They had a long journey ahead of them.


	3. Chapter 2 - The Contest

**Chapter Two**  
_Writing and Revising_

_Forward: I have chosen to call this chaptər Writing and Revising, because for one thing, there will be plenty of it in this one, but also because of the amount of writing and revising I've had to do myself. We will see more of the professors and fallow up on the original idea of Arnold's contest, but you may be surprised by what happens. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this next chapter in the great Hey Arnold! saga. I'm sure you'll have as much fun reading it as I did writing it._  
_-valcanous_

"No, no, no! Never! I won't do it!" Principle Wartz shouted, rising from his seat. "You'll never get it!"  
"Oh c'mon Wartz, why not?!" Helga barked back.  
"Huh? Oh, just a minute Helga," Wartz said, turning so she could see his new Bluetooth. He shouted back over the headset, "Oh yeah, well I he doesn't like it, he can use his own backyard. You people make me sick!" After some rough arguments, Wartz hung up with "And a fine Civil War to you too!" He turned to Helga. "Eh-hum, so what did you want to talk to me about, Ms. Pataki?"  
"Look Wartz, I know that you're a good man," Helga said. "You see, what we have here is a chance to make our school, REALLY famous. Have you ever wondered what PS118 would look like on the cover of America Today?"  
Wartz paused, deep in thought. He smiled dreamily. "Go on," he said in a very blissful tone.  
Helga opened her back pack and produced the flyer. Wartz took it, and upon reading it, laughed. "Ms. Pataki, you're not the first one to try and pass this off to me," he said. "Due to recent budget cuts, we can barely afford two major trips for the fifth and sixth grade; na-ya j-joining this contest would be a gamble at best, what, what if we lose? We lose a ton of money, and n-no field trip!" Wartz's voice was shaky at best, because of his extreme laughter.  
Helga's eyes narrowed. "Well no one who came to you before had THESE," she said, sliding an envelope across his desk.  
"What's this?" he asked, opening it.  
"Just call it: The Helga Pataki One Way Insurance Policy," she said, a grin plastered on her face.  
Wartz gasped! "Y-you w-wouldn't! Y-you're bluffing!"  
"Wartzy, have you ever known me to bluff?" Helga said, leaning in closer.  
"W-what if I-" Wartz started but stop when Helga's grin widened.  
"You honestly don't think I'd only have these copies and risk getting them confiscated, do ya?" Helga asked.  
Wartz began to sweat. He looked to Helga, and then at the pictures, and then back again. "Y-you d-drive a h-hot bargain, M-Ms. Pata-ki-ki," he said. "Tomorrow w-we'll have an assembly, and we'll s-start the c-contest."  
Helga shook his hand. Another step closer, my love. Helga thought. Now it's all on you.

The next day, the whole school was in the auditorium. No one knew for sure why they were there, but Principle Wartz would later answer everything.  
Arnold sat in the back of the room, head-held low. Gerald sat next to him, trying to be optimistic. Eugene, Sheena, Rhonda, and Harold sat in the in front of them, with Stinky, Park, Sid, and Mr. Pakenham holding up the rear.  
Helga was nowhere to be seen. The lights finally dimmed and Principle Wartz walked out on stage, with Helga and a man in a gray suite behind him.  
"Students," he said. "please, settle down. We have a guest. Allow me to introduce, Professor Carlson from Hillwood U."  
The room was filled with dry clapping as Dr. Carlson came on stage. He waved.  
"Hello," he said. "Like your Principle said, I'm a professor at Hillwood. I'm here to tell you about an EXCITING opportunity."  
Everyone groaned. "Aw, no," Gerald said. "Not another one of these 'you gotta work hard or you'll never make it out there' types!"  
"Owhhh! I hate these kinda assemblies! I just wanna eat!" Harold barked.  
"This really bites," moaned Stinky.  
"Now, now," Carlson continued. "I know what you're thinking, mostly because I can hear you, but this isn't what you think it is. You could win a trip-" everybody perked up when he said this "-to anywhere in the WORLD. As long as it's for educational purposes."  
"Yes, the university is holding a contest, in which you can summit any poem, original writing piece, artwork, etc. you want! Then 3 judges will hold a decision night on our campus. Snacks and dinner will be provided, and one winner will be chosen. This person will get to choose where he will take his class, ANYWHERE in the WORLD. There will also be two second place winners, who will receive these, um-" Carlson started fishing in his bag, "-these, um, windshield wipers? I don't know. I guess just go for the gold everyone. But don't be disappointed if you lose. This program is open to students all over the district. They also have STRICT filtering, so no cheating, copying, or re-writing. Good luck!"  
The room was filled with excited chatter.  
"If I win, I'm taking the whole class to Paris, the shopping capitol of the world," Rhonda said, apparently deep in thought.  
"If I win, a wanna go to Paris, TEXAS," Harold said. "The home to the biggest waffles in the world!"  
"Boy howdy, that sounds great!" Sid said.  
And so, most of the students were excited and dreaming of the field trips they'd take. Gerald was also joyous. "Wow Arnold!" he said to his previously depressed best friend. "I guess miracles DO happen!"  
"Yeah," Arnold said, wide-eyed starring at the stage. "Yeah."

That night, Arnold worked around the clock, the full night on his entry. It was a story about a boy who was orphaned at a young age and two toucans raised him. The idea was to make the story based on his life.  
Before long, he had a story going. "Out in the jungles of the southern badlands, two parents walked through the swamps. They was in search of a cure for a terrible decease," it read. Arnold bit his pencil. It was hard for him to think with having completed 17 pages of hard, hard, HARD, fifth grade math, the likes of which Phil was none the wiser to help him.  
At that moment, Phil entered the room. "Behold!" he said in his villainous, halloween-style voice. "The fruit of the search a thousand feet deep, the biggest gathering of mud, grease, and volcanic ash."  
Arnold starred. "Alright," he said. "Some milk an' cookies. You still doing homework?"  
"Well, not exactly," Arnold said, grabbing a cookie. "Today, the town university came to our school. They'll give one student the choice of anywhere in the world for a field trip, and all you have to do is submit an idea and win the contest."  
"I think I know where, you're um, planning to go," Phil said, his gaze turning to various packages and pamphlets and such stacked along the wall.  
"Yeah," Arnold sighed. "This could be my chance Grandpa. My one chance to find them, or to learn what really happened."  
"Well, I guess I better let you get to work shortman," Phil said, leaving the room. "Your grandma and I will be downstairs if you need us."  
"Ok Grandpa," Arnold said.

As the night went on, Arnold found himself more and more absorbed into his project. Apparently, he was REALLY good, the toucans on the page flew off, and against the sunroof of Arnold' room. As he looked up, stunned, he realized they were changing, reshaping, into… his parents?!  
"Arnold," his dad said. "Where are you?"  
"We've been waiting for you Arnold," his mom agreed. "Why haven't you come and found us?"  
Arnold turned in horror, to see the maps, the pamphlets, the books all around his room fly into the air. As he gasped, he realized that each one had the face of one of his classmates. "Hey Arnold!" they all chanted, whizzing by. "You work too hard, let's go to dinoland!" a textbook with Gerald's face said, a stern look on his face.  
"Get real, football head. What makes you think you can find them?" a pamphlet with Helga's face on the cover said, flapping in his face.  
Suddenly, all the research started to fly around him, each chanting something cruel to him. Arnold looked up to the ceiling, at his parents, but soon they became a blur. Then at last, one of the textbooks went right up to Arnold, and flipped through its pages. He didn't understand, but then he realized, it was a flipbook, and it showed him his classmates. They were running through the jungle, but a bunch of thugs were slinging down from the trees and picking them off, one by one. Then he saw himself, alone with Helga, who ran as fast as she could, by she too was being lifted. Arnold shrieked but it was too late, Helga was gone. Then at last he too was picked off.  
Arnold starred at the pages and screamed a very loud, "Nooooooo!" as the book closed on top of him.

Arnold awoke. It was dark, but he could see still clearly see his digital watch under the light of his desk lamp. He looked at it, and gasped. "Oh no! 6:30, I'm gonna be late!"  
And with that, he dived into the bathroom, brushed his teeth, changed his shirt, grabbed his contest entry, and ran out the door.

Professor Cruet sad on his suite case, trying to keep his clothes flat, so he could stuff them all in. Across the room, Crown was doing the same thing, filling his suit case. The two had accepted a week's vacation time and were packing for their trip to San Lorenzo.  
Crown coughed, spitting on the floor. "For the love of taco sauce," he burst out. "This freakin' suite case isn't good for the life of me!"  
"Comrade, you must slow down," Cruet said, struggling with his own bag. "The trick is to –uhhn- get a grip on it and –uhhn- concentrate. Phrew!"  
In a moment the two were out the door and heading downstairs, when Crown was interrupted by the unexpected spilling of his suite case's contents all over the floor.  
"Ai!" he shrieked. "Can't anyone make a descent carry-on anymore?!"  
Crown looked up the stairs at Cruet. "You wanna help me please?"  
Cruet smiled. "What's the hurry?"  
Crown beamed. "We're going to be late!" he yelled. "Can you check the time?"  
Cruet's smile suddenly grew, and then eventually the professor started to laugh.  
"What's so funny?!" Crown demanded. But Cruet just kept laughing, and pointed at the wall. Crown looked, to see his 'Howdy Doody' boxers out in the open. His face turned red and he growled.

Arnold sat, starring at the road. He was wearing a tuxedo, and held his dad's journal in his hand, for luck. Grandpa was driving. They were on their way to PS118 where they would announce the winners of the contest. It was a suit-and-tie only event, but it was fully catered. Most students who were going to this event were mildly nervous. Arnold was erratic.  
It was now or never as if his story were to win, he could finally find his parents, or be at peace in knowing what became of them.  
Arnold was sweating too, his forehead showing the signs of perspiration. Grandpa noticed this, and smiled. "Don't worry shortman, you'll do fine," he said.  
"So you think I'll win?" Arnold said excited.  
"No, you have no chance at all, there has to be sixty other people, which means the odds of this are-" Grandpa paused, counting on his fingers, "One in sixty!"  
Arnold frowned. "But don't you worry, your grandma and I will be proud of you no matter what. And, um, I suppose your mom and dad would be too," Grandpa said, trying to cheer him up.  
Arnold sighed. "Well thanks for the pep talk, Grandpa," he said.  
"Anytime shortman," Phil reassured. "Anytime."

As Arnold and Grandpa entered the auditorium, they noticed that they were probably not getting anything to eat, seeing as how Harold, Sid, and Stinky and conveniently taken their seats on the buffet table and were promptly eating the last of the plates of shrimp. A few well-dressed people stood around them, starring in disgust.  
Arnold gave a half smile, and then promptly took his seat.

Meanwhile, Helga was on stage. She was hiding behind the curtain, and waited for her dad, Big Bob Pataki. "Criminy!" she said to herself. "He said fifth teen minutes, it's been a half hour!"  
The lights dimmed and Helga walked off stage mumbling. The curtains opened, and Principle Wartz and Professor Carlson walked on stage. "This is it," Gerald said.  
"I hopes I win," Stinky said, gulping down another spoonful of mac and cheese.  
Arnold crossed his fingers. "Mom and dad, mom and dad," he whispered.  
"Ladies and gentlemen," Principle Wartz said. "I had a speech planned for this event, but since there must be so much tension, I've decided to turn this over to Dr. Carlson."  
And with that, Wartz waved his hands to Carlson, indicating to him to come on stage. The audience gave a series of dry claps as he went on stage. He cleared his throat, and then motioned to the orchestra. "Drumroll, please," he said. The drummers promptly began beating their drums, increasing the already high tension that was in the room. He opened the envelope. Reading it, he turned to the audience. "The winner is a student here at PS118!" he said. This got the audience REALLY excited. Carlson straitened his tie. "And the winner is, Arnold M. Shortman!" he said. Arnold gasped.  
"Yes, come by later to receive your brand-new set of," Carlson pulled two wiper blades out of his pack, "wiper-blades! "  
Arnold sighed. He came in second place. "The other second place winner is at another school, but by some odd twist of fate, the grand prize winner is - "  
End Chapter Two


	4. Chapter 3 - The Airport

**Chapter Three**  
_To the jungle_

The jungle was quiet, save for the usual hum of monkeys, insects, and animals. It was night, but one light was still glowing, piercing the shadows. This light was far from the jungle. It was a torch.  
And this torch hung on the outside of a fort. Many hated this fort, while some called it home, and still others used its given name: Fortress de la Muerte, the fortress of death.  
To the uneducated man, this place was not particularly known. It might've been in the back of one's mind, perhaps in a textbook, but then what would an uneducated man be doing with a textbook?  
The familiar sound of a body hitting the pavement reached the captor's ears. He laughed. Beside him, his men held this body's sister, who struggled and shouted "¡Alto! ¡No hagas eso! Es sólo un niño! (Stop! Don't do that! He's only a boy!)"  
The captor turned. "Do not lie to me," he growled under a hooded poncho. He held the cutless to her neck, raising his head so she could see his mouth under the light of the torch. "Tendré mi venganza sobre ti. (I will have my vengence on you.) I will kill you," he said, letting her see his gold tooth. He stood, letting the weapon fall to the ground beside the boy, who cringed as the villainous tool landed mere inches from his back.  
"I'll never talk!" she shouted back. "I'm no serpiente! I shall never talk!"  
The captor frowned. "Very well," he said, motioning for one of his men. In a flash, the boy's eyes widened, as he heard the sounds of raw steel against a protesting young teenager. She hit the floor, never to protest against anyone, anymore.  
The captor turned to the boy, his golden-toothed grin widening. He held the sword. "Vamos, que no eres un héroe. (Come on now, you're not a hero.)," he said. "No seas como tu Hermana, (Don't be like your sister,) talk!"  
The boy sniveled. "¡Está bien! ¡Está bien! Voy a hablar! (Okay! Okay! I'll talk!)" he screeched.  
The child's words were shaky, incomplete, at best. But his captor didn't care. He took off his hood. "Ha sido de mucha ayuda amigo. (You have been much help, friend.)" he said. "La Sombra será gratificante. Volverá a enterrar a su familia. (La Sombra will be rewarding. You will return to burry your family.)"  
He cut the rope ensnaring the boy's hands. "Go!" he shouted, pointing at the woods. The boy rose to his feet, tears in his eyes and disappeared into the night. La Sombra looked at the girl, whose arm lay sprawled out, almost reaching to where the boy had been. He grimenced. Then, turning to his goons, he shouted "Get this girl out of here, she'll attract the caimens!". "Aye!" seventeen hooded goons shouted at once. La Sombra smiled. The boy had been of help, he now knew that two professors were on their way back to San Lorenzo. But what appealed to him the most were their names. He felt his gold tooth. "I owe you," he said to himself, flinging the sword at the wall of compound. "This time I will not miss, Professor Crown."

The room was full of shock as the one name no one expected was read. Professor Carlson starred out at the crowd, almost embarrassed by what he had read.  
But sure enough, there it was in black and white. "I will repeat that, in case you didn't hear me," Carlson said. "Helga G. Pataki."  
By now, Mr. Pataki had arrived, and upon hearing his daughter's name, ran up on stage, pushing Helga aside. He frantically shook Carlson's hand. "Oh thank you, thank you," he said. "I'm the girl's father and we've always WANTED to go to Hawaii, haven't we Olga?"  
"It's Helga, dad," she said. Then she opened her mouth and was about to say something else, but Bob stopped her. "Of course she is! Just look at her face!" then he whispered, "Hey, is there any way we could go, without these other clowns slowing us down?"  
But Carlson was having none of this, and shoved him away. "Mr. Pataki, get off me!" he barked. "You haven't even let poor Helga speak! Now it's up to you, Helga." He turned to her. "Where would you like to take your class, miss?"  
Helga stood up, pushed her father aside and said "San Lorenzo, in South America!"  
Arnold's eyes bulged, and then he fell to the floor. Mr. Pataki went bullistic. "WHAT!" he shouted,  
"Then San Lorenzo it is!" Carlson said, lifting Helga's arm in the air. "Adventure awaits!"

When Arnold finally awoke, he was surrounded by Phil, Gerald, Mr. Simmons, and Mr. Pakenham. He blushed. Phil smiled.  
"You're goin' to San Lorenzo, shortman," he said. "You're going after all."  
Arnold smiled, woozily. "I guess I'd – better pack," he said, before conking back out. Phil turned to Mr. Simmons. "I think I ott'a take him home," Phil said, picking him up in his arms. "When's he field trip?"  
"Monday of next week, so after the weekend," Mr. Pakenham said.  
Phil gave a confused look. "And who are you?" he asked.  
Pakenham gave a similar look. "Why, I'm Arnold's teacher," he responded.  
Phil shook his head. "No, you're his teacher," he said pointing to Mr. Simmons.  
Everyone rolled their eyes.

Edmond Beragi coughed, and then spat into the trash can. This airport was disgusting! There was trash all over the floor, and there were sick people to the left and right. Why would anyone wants to fly here?  
"Oye!" he barked. "mi Comrades, why are we here? Even our LAST business trip to Florida was better than this! And we stayed at the Mariot!"  
"Because," Cruet said, sipping his coffee. "We were FUNDED for our expeditions last time. Now it's all our OWN pay checks."  
Beragi coughed again. He was NOT happy. It was five o'clock in the morning, but rather than sleeping, he was trapped in the middle of the worst airport in the city, about to fly off to some random place in South America he'd never heard of.  
Crown looked at his friend. "It will be alright," he said consullingly. "Everything is going to be okay, once we board the plane.  
Beragi groaned, finally giving a sigh. "I hope so amegos," he said, closing his eyes. "I hope so."  
The three were soon aboard the plane. Beragi and Crown went right to sleep, while Cruet sipped his coffee and started typing on his laptop.  
"Coffee or tea?" the flight attendant asked a snoring Pr. Crown. He grunted.  
"Tea please," he said.  
The lady turned. "I mean do you have any, I'm thirsty," she said, openning her hand.  
Crown squinted. "No, of course not," he said. "Why would I bring an unused coffee packet on a plane?"  
The flight attendant flipped her long blonde hair out of his direction. "I thought it just common curtency," she said, sompering down the aisle.  
Crown rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long flight.

Arnold packed his suite case full to the brim. It was going to be a long trip, the first real one he had been on in his life. Sure, he'd gone to the beach, but this was the big time, the jungles of San Lorenzo.  
He starred off, deep in thought. Then he went to his bed and sat on it, pulling out the picture of his parents he always kept in the drayer along the wall. He smiled. "I'm on my way you guys," he said. "I'm on my way."

Grandpa and Arnold arrived at the airport at 6:00 AM, and the room was full of students. Harold, Sid, and Stinky all lay in a cluster on the couch, in their pajamas, sleeping. Harold snuggled his one-eyed, stuffed Wally doll. Sid wore his nightblind and cap, and Stinky reclined, snoring and putting his bunny-slippered feet on the coffee table in front of the couch.  
Curly, Park, Rhonda, Pheobe, Shena, and Helga all stood along the wall carrying their luggage. Arnold hugged Phil, told him goodbye, and went to join his classmates.  
Helga yowned. "Where the heck is Mr. Pakenham?" she growled.  
"Hello class," came a voice.  
Helga and the others gasped. "Oh no..." they all sighed in agreement as Mr. Simmons enter the group.  
"Good morning students," he said, with his usual grin. "Your teacher, Mr. Pakenham, was caught with a case of the stomach flu and couldn't make it. So with Principle Wartz" (who joined the party at that moment) "to accompany me, we will be your chaperones on this unique and special journey."  
Helga rolled her eyes. Phoebe lowered her head. Harold continued to snore.  
"Alright," Principle Wartz said, looking over the crowd, "let's do a head count of all the students and their personal chaperones, hm, yes, Rhonda and Mrs. Loud, Curly, Park, Shena, yes, yes..."  
He looked to Arnold. "And Arnold. Okay that's everybody-"  
"No, it is not!"  
Wartz turned. "Who exactly are you?" he asked.  
"Why I Arnold's... um... I'm his uncle, uh heh heh heh! I'm going to be his chaperone!" Oskar said, trying to sound authentic.  
Wartz pondered. "Um, sir you didn't sign up as his chaperone on the permission slip. I'm not even sure if you're even RELATED to Arnold."  
Oskar smiled a very big grin. "Um, Arnold, can I speak with you, in PRIVATE?"  
And with this he led Arnold to a corner and chuckled. Arnold was not amused. "What are you doing here? You're NOT my uncle."  
"I know, I know, but you see," Oskar started. "It's like this. You know that big guy, that one who always would come over to the boarding house and ask to talk to me in the back room?"  
Arnold nodded. "You mean that REALLY big guy?"  
Oskar shook his head. "No, the bigger one," he said.  
Arnold rolled his eyes. "Let me guess," he said. "You barrowed some money, lost it, and can't pay his back, so you need to hide for a few days and coming along is your best option?"  
Oskar shrugged. "That's about the just of it, eh heh heh heh," he said putting his hands behind his back.  
Arnold groaned. "Okay, I will help you this ONE time, but you listen, you better straighten up and fly right! I intend on finding my parents. It's the first chance in my LIFE that I've had a chance at finding them, and you'd better not weigh me down." Arnold's eyes narrowed. "I mean it."  
Oskar chuckled. "Okay, it's a deal!" he said. "And good luck on finding your parents Arnold."  
Arnold went back to the group. "Okay," Arnold said. "This is my uncle, Oskar. He's going to be my chaperone."

End Chapter Three  
Next chapter: Awake at Carnival. Arnold finally goes to San Lorenzo!  
-valcanous


	5. Chapter 4 - The Plane

**Chapter Four**  
_In the air_

Thea Roberson sat on a bench, starring at the landing port. This was not the first time she was waiting for someone, but these were some of whom she preferred to look her best for.  
At last, the sound of the plane grinding to a stop caught her ears. She turned to see the jet her company were onboard, and the sound of the intercom calling out the name of the flight caught her ears.  
"Flight 219 from Hillwood has arrived," came the voice in a thick Mexican accent. Thea stood, pulling her hood back over her head and putting on a pair of sunglasses. It was time to put on a show.  
Beragi was the first to walk out, followed by the two professors. A few other people in sunhats walked off too, paying no attention to the trio.  
Crown was the first to spot the sign which read their names. He ushered his two comrades over. He looked at her, cleared his throat, and said what he was sure her name was. "Olga Pataki?" he asked.  
Thea smiled. The rouse was working perfectly! But she dare not show it, or it would all be in vain. She merely stood, opened her mouth, and said, "Yes, Professor Crown, it is Olga."

Principle Wartz give one last look around, and then led everyone over to the ticket booth. In a moment they were all ready to board when Oskar heard a voice among the crowd. He turned and that's when he saw her! I was Suzy, and she was MAD! Angrily, she pushed aside the crowd of people, running directly at him. Oskar shrieked, and run toward departure. But she was too fast, she was on his heels in a minute.  
Oskar whirled around again, and leaped over a luggage cart. The bags and pet carriers fell to the floor in a heap subduing her. She was worzy, but she straightened up and to him "Oskar! You can't run forever! Sooner or later you WILL have to face him!"  
But Oskar was already long gone. Suzy tried to rise to her feet, but was greeted by the hairy hand of a very large man. When she looked up and saw his face, she gasped! It was the man Oskar owed he money. She readied herself for the attack, but before she could say anything, she was knocked unconscious and unceremoniously deposited into a burlap sack.  
The man went to the booth, registered it as his personal baggage, and soon the little bag was on its way to the cargo unit of the plane, where it disappeared among several hundreds of other bags and pet carriers. He started to laugh when- CLCIK! He turned around to see the handcuffs lock on his wrists. The security guard brushed his mustache. "You're comin' with me, Pinky!" The man groaned.

Helga and Phoebe shuffled to their seats on the plane. Phoebe was more than a little excited but Helga was ready for a nap.  
"Oh boy Helga!" Phoebe said. "Isn't this exciting?"  
Helga yawned. "Yeah, sure Phoebe. Wake me up when it's time to buckle up."  
Helga slid farther into her seat was about to dose off when out of the blue came a voice.  
"Is that my little baby sister?!"  
Helga awoke with a flash! It was -  
"Olga! What are you doing here?!" Helga screeched.  
Olga giggled. "Why I'm your chaperone silly," he said.  
Helga fidgeted. "Don't you have college?" she asked.  
Olga took the last on the row next to Phoebe. "I'm meeting two of my professors in San Lorenzo," she said. "But when I learned you were coming on this field trip, I just knew I had to come along with you! I asked your Principle and he said yes! Oooo!-Isn't this exciting!" Helga shifted her head to Phoebe, who was deep in excitement too. The tension around her was great as the two girls sat, as if a bomb was about to go off, biting their lower lips, and sweating with a huge grin around their faces.  
Oh boy, Helga thought. This is gonna regular day of fun and laughs with my two FAVORITE people…  
She leaned back and readied herself for sleep. She was going to need it.  
Arnold stared out the window, and continued to read the pages of his father's journal. He layed his eyes upon the map. Funny how two pieces of paper, bound in leather could give him this sense of hope, this sense of longing, and this sense of change.  
Yet in the end, they were just pieces of paper. He looked out the window again.  
Yes, He thought. Goodbye Hillwood. But tell everyone I'm on my way now.

Suzy opened her eyes. It was dark but she could still clearly see where she was. He was still in the sack. Carefully, she unzipped the little bag and peered out. She was surrounded by boxes and suite cases.  
There was a barking sound, and then her head felt wet. She looked up to see one of the dogs, sitting in her hair.  
She shook it out of her hair and growl. Oskar was going to be in for it.  
But her vengence would have to wait, as several layers up, the flight was going much smoother for Oskar, who was enjoying the in-flight shrimp- at Arnold's expense. Helga had snored through the giggly, chattery, sound of her two coach-mates. Rhonda and Mrs. Lloyd had weathered the storm quietly in first class.  
Wartz and Simmons sat at the end of the row, sleeping.  
The check seatbelt light came on, as the voice of a flight attendant came over the intercom: "All passengers, please fasten your seat belts; we will be landing at our refueling station soon."

The sights and sounds of Carnival filled the hall, and Crown could smell the familiar smell of hog meat, roasting over an open fire. The girl he had met at the airport, whom he assumed was Olga had told them where she was staying and planned on taking them there.  
The fair was so exciting that Crown had to cover his mouth just to keep himself from getting sucked in. Nothing, he deducted, could be more fun then a night in San Lorenzo.  
Cruet and Beragi fallowed, half-temped themselves. But the girl pursued forward, and she said something, but none of them could hear her over the rustle of the conga-line.  
At last, they hurried through the bushes, and ducked into the brush. A few minutes later, they found themselves standing in front of a little shack. Crown grunted, openning the door. It was dark, but he didn't think much of it. "You sure there's enough room for THREE men in here Olga?" he asked in a joking tone. But the girl said nothing, and once all of them were in the room, she scurried out the door and slammed it.  
"Uh oh," Cruet said. "You don't think-"  
A bright light flashed on, and all three men were knocked to their knees. An evil chuckling hit their ears, as one lone figure accompanied by two goons came into the light.  
"Same old 'Professor'," he said. "Falling for the old MASK gag."  
Crown looked up, fixing his eyes on the man's belly. And I see you're still the same fat, weak, thug you are Tio Tum," he said.  
Tio Tum chuckled again. "Weak am I?"  
"You never attack directly," Crown explained. "You always have your men do the dirty work, and you don't even stay to watch."  
Crown rose to his feet. "You have a weak constitution."  
Tio Tum sent a huge blow to Crown's stomach. The professor gagged and spat. "Off course, I could be wrong I never-"  
"Enough!" snapped Tum.  
In a moment, the thugs disappeared into the dark and returned carrying three very heavy trofts of water.  
Crown gulped. Tum motioned for his thugs to get the three back on their knees.  
"Let's not waste anyone else's time," Tum said. "We need to have a chat."

By the time the plane had reached San Lorenzo, it was late and Suzy's nerve was dangerously on edge. The pilot came over the intercom. "Attention all passengers, Welcome to San Lorenzo."  
The class cheered. Outside Arnold's window, the lights of carnival glowed light hot coals at the end of a cave. Quickly, Oskar scurried out the door, leaving Arnold with his shrimp bill. When Arnold finally got off the plane, his class was already receiving their room keys.  
"Class," Mr. Simmons called adressing the class. "We will be staying at the Hotel de Stien, the first hotel built by German hands in San Lorenzo. The keys you are about to recieve grant you access into your rooms for the night on the second floor. Although I can tell you'd much rather go have fun at carnival-"  
But before Mr. Simmons was through, the class had already run off and were on their way to the party. He frowned. "Okay," he shouted. "You stuff will be waiting for you in your rooms. Make sure you're IN them before 11 o'clock. We leave to find a campsite at 8 tomorrow. No gets left-" he sighed. They were all gone.  
Wartz patted Simmons on the back. "Oh well," he said smiling. "Let's go find a roasted pork stand."  
Simmons licked his lips, and the two ran to join the fun.

Oskar also ran toward the festivities, but felt the sensation of being pulled back by the coller of his shirt. He spun around and his face met the angered face of Suzy, whose face was covered in dog urine. She growled.  
Oskar gulped. "Hello Suzy," he said chuckling guiltily.  
"SHUT UP!" she barked. Oskar jumped. "Siiii...t," she hissed. Oskar sat on a rock.  
Suzy cleared her throat, but Oskar cut her off. "I know what you're going to say," he said. "That this is my biggest blunder yet. That I need to face my debts. That it's my fault we're into this mess. Well I sorry, I'll say, but no, NO, it's too late for sorry. I abondoned you and skipped out of my problems. I'd better take you home."  
Oskar turned to Suzy. "Is that what you were going to say?" he asked.  
Suzy beamed. "More or less," she said under her breath.

Carnival was a blast. Harold helped himself the round of the buffet with Sid and Stinky joining him, much like on the night the announcement was made. Arnold, Park, and Gerald led the congaline, while Pheobe and Olga looked around the clothing stands and Helga stole a moment alone.  
She stared at Arnold in his conga line, and held her locket to her chest. "Oh-ho-ho, Arnold," she swooned. "So kind, so wise. We've made it at last. And yet-" Helga's gaze turned to the source of wheezing behind her shoulder, giving Brainy a shove, knocking him to the ground.  
"And yet I can never get a moment alone!" she howled, raising her fist. Brainy wheezed. Helga growled. "How many times do I have to whack you before I get my point across Brainy!" She pointed to Arnold. "I love ARNOLD! I love him Brainy! And you know what that means? Not interested! Get lost! Leave me alone!" Brainy looked up, a sorrowful expression on his face. He held his head low and slowly walked away.  
He turned back one time, but Helga pointed to the festival and growled. She rolled her eyes. "Can you believe that guy?" she said.  
"I know right," came another voice.  
Helga shrieked, jumping high into the air and running out of the bushes. She ran right past Brainy, and plowed through a conga line, shrieking horrified "Help! Help! Get em away from me!"  
The crowd stared, and then shrugged, going back to their activities as usual.

Cruet gagged and wheezed, taking another huge breath.  
"Where's the boy!" one of Tio Tum's thugged shouted. "Where's the emerald city?!"  
Cruet spat. "In your momma's bedroom," he said jokingly.  
SPLASH! Down he went again, water filling his open mouth and nose.  
Tum motioned after a moment for his thug to pull him back up. The thug howled again. "Where Sourcruet?! WHERE!?"  
"I don't know," he spat. "We came here to find out."  
"Liar!" the thug barked again, dunking him into the icy water.  
Crown and Beragi sat along the wall, moaning. "He's telling the truth," Crown said, coughing out every word. "We don't know, we never knew."  
Tum smacked him hard across the face. Then he stood, pointing at him. "This one tells the truth. These two know nothing," he said. But then he turned and growled. "But this one knows more than he's telling us. Tell us professor, what do you hide from us?"  
Crown said nothing. Tum motioned to his goons. "Take the skinny one to Stonewall. As for the fat one, do what you please but THIS one, this one is MINE...!"  
The goons pulled Cruet and Beragi by the neck of their collers. Beragi smiled. "Do your worst you light headed buffoons," he cackled.  
"Oh they will," Tum said. "They will."

It was late and still, the party continued, well into the night. Arnold and Gerald sat on a bench, licking ice cream cones. At one point, something caught Arnold's eye. Taking it off the pole, he read the words in big lettering:  
"Eduardo's Boating tours, present this flyer and get a free trial voyage deep into the ancient jungles of San Lorenzo."  
Arnold's eyes widened. "Hey Gerald," he said. "Come look at this."  
Gerald's eyes too widened. "Hey, isn't that-"  
"Yep," Arnold said. "I've heard about Eduardo, he went to college with my dad, he sent them on their last expedition. I'll bet he can fill in some blanks."  
"But Arnold," Gerald said. "We're on a field trip. An ACADEMIC field trip. We can't just jump ship and take a tour on some random person's boat."  
Arnold rubbed his chin. "I got it!" he spat. "Didn't Mr. Simmons say we were looking for a campsite? Maybe we can get Eduardo to help us. It's a start, maybe I'll even be able to talk to him."  
Gerald grinned. "That is a good idea. We'd better make this happen."  
Arnold smiled too. At long last, he had a lead!

End Chapter Four

_Next chapter is when we meet Eduardo, and he will definitely fill in some blanks. Also, we will also see another glimpse of the mysterious Green-Eyed people. Don't miss out, the adventure begins next!_  
_-valcanous_


	6. Chapter 5 - The Answers

**Chapter Five**  
_Climbing the Stonewall_

_Forward: (Big one this time, I know) First of all, you may have noticed I changed the rating to K+, which is the equilivant of PG. This is for some more than disturbing content and also scenes that involve torturous behavior, alcohol, and some mean spirited thugs. I'd also like now before this chapter is finished and published to thank Unsuredreamer87 for the idea of Stonewall, La Sombra's personal ausie thug, who in the end wasn't so bad after all. However, my Stonewall is much different. You'll also notice several similarities between "Tio Tum" and his Stonewall. Tio Tum was an original character in the jungle movie, first revealed to the public in the recent storyboard leeks (La Sombra refers to him as "Estupido". He can be seen locking Arnold in the store room.) Stonewall however was an original character created by Unsuredreamer87. Furthermore, I mean not to steal your idea, Mr. Dreamer. And good job on your fan fiction of the jungle movie._  
_-valcanous_

With each blow of the tugboat's horn, Arnold could feel that things were going to be much better now. The breeze swept through his hair like the breath of some wild beast. He stared over to hull of the machine, and was met by a splach of fresh river foam.  
A few onlookers also stared at the hull, shaking their heads. "Bravest band I've ever seen," one of them said. The other one grunted. "How long do you think they'll last before they meet La Sombra?"  
"Who knows," the first one replied. "He could already be on that boat. You know how well that devil can blend in."  
They both sighed and went back to work.  
Arnold didn't hear any of this. He was still thinking over what he'd say, what he'd ask Eduardo. He could barely remember how all this had happened. Mr. Simmons was against the idea at first, but when he learn about the free trial voyage, and the rest of class begged and pleaded with him, he couldn't say no.  
Off course, Brainy was still a little shaken by the events of the previous night. He figured at long last that it was jetlag that had provoke Helga's rude behavior, and not any action on his part except of course his usual admiration.  
He liked her. But he knew they would never be, she had confessed her love for Arnold countless times, with him as the sole audior. If he truely liked her, he figured, he would let love take its course. Arnold would made her happy, not him. It was meant to be. That didn't mean he couldn't steal and glance once in a while, even if his face was met by her fist and he was running out of replacement eyewear.  
He wheezed a sigh of adoration. Life goes on.

At last, the river narrowed. The boat was now at Eduardo's campsite. It was a little ways off the path of the river, yet it was still deep enough for some amazing jungle sights.  
Arnold grinned. Here's Eduardo, brilliant, smart, and a picker of good rest stops. Mr. Simmons called to the class. "Students, chaperones, Oskar..." he said. "We've reached our campsite. Before we leave, I'd like you to thank our tour guide, Mr. Eduardo himself!"  
Eduardo came up from the lower deck, to the sound of clapping. The native of San Lorenzo bowed, jokefully. "It was an honor to help," he said humbly.  
The class clapped again. "Okay, class, grab all your things, we're not coming back until the end of the week," Mr. Simmons said, directing the students with his arms.  
Arnold jumped. They were leaving, and Eduardo was too. He HAD to talk to him. "Uh, Mr. Simmons," Arnold gasped. "Can I wait a minute, I want to, uh, thank Eduardo some more."  
Mr. Simmons shook his head. "We've already thanked him, Arnold," he said. "We can't waste anymore of this man's time."  
Arnold quivered. "But-"  
But it was too late. Eduardo's boat was already shoving off. Arnold watched the little ship disappear into the mist, vanishing away through the jungle, like the sight of an old friend walking away forever.  
Mr. Simmons looked at his watch. "Okay," he called. "We've got about twenty minutes until nightfall, and then it's off to bed. Let's get to work."  
Arnold moaned, looking back at the mist. "I wish I could," he whispered.

. . .

In their tent, Arnold, Gerald, Sid, Stinky, and Harold lay. They were all sleeping and snoring, except for Arnold. He couldn't believe it. He'd been lucky; he'd come in second place and was only in San Lorenzo by pure chance. He'd almost miraculously found the flyer of Eduardo's boat tours, and even got to sit on his boat.  
How long, he thought. Can I sit here and hope I get lucky? Sometimes I need to make my own luck.  
He stood up, stripped off his pajamas and changed into his day clothes, blue spandex pants, his father's red plade shirt, and his one blue one on top of that.  
Gerald heard the noise he was making. Yawning, he looked up at Arnold. "Arnold?" he asked, still mostly asleep. "Where're you going?"  
Arnold continued to fill his back pack. At last he said, "Goodbye Gerald. I going to find Eduardo. This is that part of the journey where my search starts."  
"I'll go with you," Gerald said, getting out of his sleeping bag.  
"No!" Arnold shot back, holding up his hands. "This something I have to do, on my own."  
Gerald frowned. "Okay," he said. "Just, just be careful."  
"I will," was Arnold's last words to his best friend before his adventure started, maybe ever.  
But he could see his friend was ready. Sticking out of his sleeping bag, was a piece of paper. He unwrapped it, and looked at it under the light of his flashlight.  
It was a picture of his parents.

It was too dark for Arnold to see much more than the few feet of light his flashlight provided, but he could still clearly hear the animals and stream whizzing around him. Stepping over some skat, he continued on his walk up river, unaware that he was being watched.  
Across the river, a pair of hands slid the bushed out of their owner's eyes. They were green. The figure was a lookout, but this night, his patrol found a very odd sight. He had seen paintings of this before, but this was truely a shock.  
The child across the river from him was dressed in blue and red, and wore an extremely out of scale aparatous on his head, looked like a hat but not like any of the tribal hats he'd ever seen.  
The figure shivered, and bowed to his knees. "Arnold," he whispered. "Mountain God."

. . .  
Helga's eye twitched when she heard the sound of branche break under some one's foot. "Pheobe," she shook her friend. "Pheobe, do you here that?"  
The little Japanese girl sat up. She could clearly hear some one leaving the camp. "Oh no!" she shreiked. "I've gotta get Mr. Simmons!"  
She neared the door to the tent, but Helga stoped her. "Let's at least see who it is first."  
Helga peered out the tent, just in time see Arnold disappear behind the cover of trees. "Arnold?!" she gasped.

Much farther away from the camp, another gasp came from Cruet, but this was over the sight of something much worse. The professor of anthropology, tied to a steel chair, was starring face to face with a huge men, he had to be 8 feet tall. He grunted, and Cruet could clearly tell that this was the man they had mentioned before, the thug, Stonewall.  
Stonewall spat, and said in a thick Aulstralian acsent, "You, Cruet, you don'k wan'k ta tok?"  
Cruet gulped as the man sipped some burben, letting the red liquid role down the edge of his mouth and neck, like blood dripping from a lion's mouth after a hunt.  
"I don'k know anything," stidder Cruet. "Uh... I mean I don't know anything!"  
Stonewall lit a cigarette. "Don'k?" he asked. "Or won'k."  
The thug had his fellows raise Cruet to his feet so the professor could clearly see Stonewall at full heigth.  
"But don'k worry," the massive beast of a man said. "If you ark en my domain, you will nok be interogaked."  
Cruet sighed.  
"You will receive your pinskement." The thug pulled a cutless from the table, his eyes fixed on his captive. He grinned a hideous grin, the size on which due to his size must've been the length of Cruet's head from left to right. The villian chuckled, stepping nearer and nearer...

Helga ran through the reeds, careful not to cut herself against their long, tall skins. Arnold was already at least 80 feet in front of her, and he too was moving fast. She had to catch up to him, she couldn't let him get lost, not in South America, and not before she could tell him the truth.  
She was running so fast that she didn't notice the tree root in her way. With a heavy Thud! she landing head first to ground, covered in mud. She shook the dirt from her hair and clothes and stood up. When she peeked off into the distance, Arnold was gone.  
"Criminy!" she howled. She continued her run, this time at full blast. "Arnold!" she called. "Arnold!"  
But the boy was now very far away and couldn't hear her. Helga sped up her pursuit just in time to see Arnold vanish behind a glade of trees. "Arnold!" she roared. "ARNOLD!"  
Helga lept into the air, higher than most kids her age have ever jumped before. If anyone were watching, they might've mistaken her for a lost olympic gymnist. She land a mere four feet from Arnold. This got his attention, and the shocked kid turned to see her.  
"Helga!" he shreiked. "Are you okay?!"  
"I'm fine..." Helga answered, worzily. "Hey Arnold?"  
"Yeah?" he asked.  
"Do you think there are hospitals in the jungle?"  
"I don't think so."  
"Good," she answered. "I'd hate to spend this trip in bed." And with this, fell face first at Arnold's feet unconcious with a grin plastered on her face.

When Helga at last awoke, she saw Arnold and Eduardo standing over her. The boatest nudged Arnold. "There she is," he said reasurringly. "Mi amiga, are you alright? You took a nasty fall."  
"Heck," she said. "I'm a bright eye of the bunche." She looked around at where she was laying, and then at the cacky pants and pink shirt she know wore. "What happened?"  
"What happened?" Arnold growled. "I should be asking you! Why were you following me! You knew I had to see Eduardo."  
"What, and let you get eaten by a jaguar while you're going out for a chat? Fat chance football head."  
Eduardo prepared a brew of tea and poured it into three cups. "You two should NOT be here. It's not safe," he scolded.  
"But I need answers!" Arnold cried. "What happened to my parents? How come you didn't call me or my grandparents? What's the matter?!"  
Eduardo lifted an eye-lid, puzzled. "How am I supposed to know mi amigo? I don't know you," he said.  
"No, but you knew my dad," Arnold said. "I'm Arnold Shortman."

. . .  
Beragi awoke, and quickly realized he was upside down. Around him were the chuckling figures of his capters, who were spinning him around. "Piñata!" two of the men shouted together. One of them hit him in the face with a large stick. Beragi's nose started to bleed and his forehead held a mark of the end of the stick.  
"Aw haw! Candy!" the men chuckled. The other man hit him with the stick, this time even harder. There was a large CRACK! and another larger spill of blood from his nose, which Beragi could tell for sure it was broken, spilled across his face in a dismall red and green ooze.  
"Nice one," he spat.  
At that moment, a pair of thick, muscular arms came into Beragi's view. They were huge, must've been the size of tree trunks. Of course it might've been his worziness, but he could tell, these were huge arms. But it wasn't just the arms that intreagued him. It was what they were holding that did. A very browsed and bloody Cruet dangled by the back of his pants in a giant fist. "Cruet!" he shrieked. "Are you okay?"  
"They don't want information anymore," he said gagging. "I'm afraid they want to punish us."  
Beragi sat up in the air just enough to see the owner of the massive arms. The figure smiled. "Let's try to have a likkle fum befork we do dis," he said. And before he knew it, Beragi was being hoisted up by the very strong, and ever so stinky, Maguire Stonewall.

Eduardo could hear outside the taunting laughter of a band of thugs outside. He covered his face and shut the open window. Luckily, the sound hadn't reached Arnold or Helga's ears.  
Eduardo cleared his throat. "Well Arnold, I can't exactly tell you what happened to them," he said. "But I can explain what happened before they left, and why I never called."  
"That's what I've been waiting for," Arnold said.  
Eduardo fidgeted. "Well here it goes," he said.  
"After your parents returned to Hillwood, the Green-Eyed people stayed in touch with me. They would occationally send me a signal fire to let me know they were okay. It was white when they were in good health but if it were red, they were trouble.  
"Over a year and a half past and I assumed the red smoke may never come. But sadly, the day did come, red smoke pierced the clouds and from all around San Lorenzo, we could see they were in need of help.  
"I soon realized what had happened. La Sombra was back! And now he'd struck again, he had found the object of his search: La Corezon. I learned the Corezon has a direct link between the health of the Green-Eyes. When I went to the place where I'd last seen a sign from the Green-Eyes, I saw several dead butterflies.  
"I knew at once it was the sleeping sickness, but this time it would be much worse, the Corezon was lost!  
"I knew this would be a sad day for all of us, but it had to happen. In a week, your parents were here. They asked me if I was okay, and we spent a night together. The next day… well… that's when they left."  
Arnold frowned. "Do you have any ideas on what happened?"  
Eduardo shook his head. "We talked over the radio during the first part of their flight. They mentioned how they couldn't wait to get home and celebrate your second birthday Arnold. But as night dragged on, I grew ever sleepier. At last, when I awoke, all I could hear was static.  
"After that, I didn't hear from them for weeks. I finally, came to the conclusion that they weren't coming back…  
"But that's when I saw it. In the middle of a stormy night, I saw it. The smoke was rising above the clouds, but this time it was white.  
"I realized your parents must've done it, but I still never saw them again. I would've called but I La Sombra's second attack on my village disconnected all calls in and out except for the computer in Thea's shack. Thea Robertson his right-hand lady."  
"What did you do next?" Arnold asked.  
"I figured they had died a long time ago. I found no hope that they'd ever come back. Until…"  
"Until what!?" Arnold jumped.  
"Until I heard it. There is a legend," Eduardo said. "That a lone man, unos medicign, which means one doctor in the original language of the Green-Eyes, a man of medicine was meant to find the Corezon. He would stay behind, as its guardian. I read about it in your father's studies about the Green-Eyes. I think they may have been rescued by him, or someone like him, someone the Green-Eyes trusted to get them to safety. But it's been 9 years, I'd figured they'd signal me."  
Arnold smiled. "Thank you Eduardo. You've helped me a lot…" Arnold neared the door but Eduardo leaped in front of him. "No! It is too late now. You can't go out, the pirates are out at this hour."  
"Pirates!" gasped Arnold. "But my class is on the edge of the river, they'll be sitting ducks!"  
At that moment, a loud scream echoed across the jungle. Helga reconnized it in an instant. "Pheobe!"  
Eduardo gasped. "Then we haven't a moment to loose!" he said. "You two run down there. I'll come down with the boat!"  
Arnold and Helga nodded and ran down the same path they had come up. It was chaos in the little camp, as Tio tum and his band of whiskey-scented goons bombarded the tents with horses. The students ran left and right, some of them getting captured. Mr. Simmons, Wartz, and the rest of the adults had already been tied up except for Oskar and Suzy whom were nowhere in sight. Arnold and Helga reached the path at the mouth of the trail.  
"Everyone!" Arnold cried. "Follow us!"  
"No!" roared Tum. "Finish them!"  
The class screamed running down the path at full speed. Arnold knew they'd never escape on foot, not when faced with men on horse-back. Eduardo was their only hope. Finally, he saw his friend's hut. "Eduardo!" he called. But the boatmen didn't answer back, and his boat was nowhere to be seen.  
"Are you crazy?!" Sid screamed. The sound of the horses loudened.  
"Every man for himself!" Harold screamed.  
The class scattered, disappearing into the jungle. When the horses finally made it to the clearing, Tum could see their silloettes. He laughed. "It's okay boy," he shouted to his men. "La Sombrie will take care of the rest."  
. . .

Stonewall deposited Cruet and Beragi on the ground. "Alrighk," he said. "Try nok to squirm. I hake cleaning up these blood stains."  
The two closed their eyes and waited for the impact of the blade. Suddenly there was a noise behind him. The massive aussie turned and saw a stampede of fifth graders. He grinned. "Well Tum, ol' boy," he said scratching his belly. "Ya doke it again. Leave it up to me me."  
The thug called up into the trees. "Boys, we got ouselkes some runners! You know whak to do!"  
A voice called down from the tree. "How many?"  
"At least twenky I-recinn!" Stonewall shouted back.  
"Roger!" the voice answered. "What're ya gonna do with the prisoners?"  
Stonewall made a slashing motion across his neck and made a sound like the swishing of a blade. He looked at his two prisoners. "You're comin' wik me," he said, picking them both up.

As Arnold and the class ran, the tree above them started to rustle. But no one could hear it. Suddenly, WHOOSH! A pair of arms swooped down and snatch one of the students. And then another, and another. Arnold could barely keep up when he realized it. He'd seen this before.  
With a loud "Nooooo!" He leapt into action, knocking Helga out of the way of a pair of hands. The two tembled down the hill, head first, disappearing into the mist.  
At last, the last of the other kids was captured. Tio Tum asked his scout. "Did you get em all?"  
"All but two," the scout said. "I saw them vanish into the woods."  
Tum spat. "Buzeck! Well they won't last long in there. Well let's hurry, boss has got chow waitin' for us."  
The two rode off into the night.  
Meanwhile, the students found themselves locked in wooden pens. Harold roared angrily. "Hey! You can't do this to us! I'm hungry!"  
And with that, the rest of the class went into an uproar, pounding on the walls and spitting and yelling, when BOOM! The gun shot silenced them all. "Enough," came I a voice in the shadows. out walked a figure wearing aponcho and fadora and holding a pistol. He slowly walked across the floor of the compound, saying nothing. At last, when he did speak, it was very gravelly and harsh.  
"I'm afraid we haven't been properly introduced," he said. "You can call me the shadow, or as my father named me, La Sombra."

End Chapter Five  
_Sorry, no spoilers this time. Chapter Six will be out REALLY soon. Don't wait up._  
_- valcanous_


End file.
